i'm craig melvin. you are watching msnbc, the place for politics. less than three days until the so-called fiscal cliff and congress still trying to hammer out a deal. they've had 515 days to work this out. still, though, capitol hill leaders are at an impasse and starting next week, you and i could see our paychecks cut as payroll taxes go up and that could be just the beginning. the clock at the bottom right of your screen there might as well have a blaringa, large on it because come midnight monday if lawmakers have not found the fiscal cliff solution you're going to hear a whole heck of a lot of noise. let's get straight to washington. nbc's kristen welker at the white house and luke russert is tracking developments at capitol hill and nbc news senior political editor mark murray is here to break it down for us from the washington bureau. we will start with kristen. last we heard, kristen welker, the president came out to report that he is modestly optimistic. has the rhetoric changed at all today? >> reporter: it has changed a little bit. the p